Rick and Morty is one of my favourite shows—definitely in the top-three—and this is why. It’s like Doctor Who on crack—I love it! Amidst the ridiculousness and the sci-fi level grossness of it all (not to mention the adult humour), it also succeeds in grappling with some interesting ideas. Case in point is this soliloquy from the Fear Hole episode:

You’re dumb. That’s why you’re not scared to be happy. The smarter you are, the more you know. Happiness is a trap. It can’t last forever. Let’s say you meet the love of your life, well, it’s still gonna end. It’s inevitable, whether by the slow pull of a disease, or the shock of loose footing on a hiking trail, whether it be the corrosion of two personalities that reshape each other until they’re incompatible, or maybe the old stranger in a bar who says the things that need to be said, to that person, that night. The point is, happiness always ends. Best case scenario, think about this. Best case is that you die at the same time. Yikes.

The Fear Hole Guy to Morty in Rick and Morty

I hear this type of logic from religious apologists a lot, and I’ve got to admit, it’s one of the things that I really don’t like about religion. “If something doesn’t last forever, what’s the point?” I think this amounts to the fundamental question hidden in the guts of Western philosophy and spirituality. Anything less than eternal is not good enough! So, people take comfort in an afterlife, or Plato’s realm of the Forms, or whatever. Honestly, I don’t care. This one time, I was having a drink with a prof who said that whatever the afterlife is, it wouldn’t be his life, so why should he care either way? I tend to sympathise with this point: I want to know what makes life meaningful here and now, and not justify it with reference to something that comes after. To play on a Rick and Morty quote, that just sounds like nihilism with extra steps.

Nevertheless, the Fear Hole Guy is correct: nothing lasts forever. The things that give us happiness now will perish someday; or if not, then we will. So why even bother trying to be happy?

Maybe that logic makes sense to you, maybe it doesn’t. I’ve got to admit, it’s something I’ve asked myself with sincerity whenever I worry about the future. Life is like building a house of cards outside when you know it’s going to be windy later. It’s going to fall over eventually, no matter how much you try to cover it. Even if you super-glued them all together, it would just blow away in stronger winds. And in a fucked up way, this is life: you keep living, knowing that you’re going to die someday. You put stock in things that won’t last forever, even relationships. And maybe that’s why you believe in God, or whatever: it’s a nice thought. But it doesn’t do anything for your life today.

Keiji Nishitani wrote:

This means that no matter where we turn, God is not there; at the same time, wherever we turn, we come face to face with God. That is, the God before whom all of creation is as nothing makes himself present through all of creation. The Christian must be able to pick up a single pebble or blade of grass and see the same consuming fire of God and the same pillar of fire, hear the same thunderous roar, and feel the same “fear and trembling” that Moses experienced.

Gosh, maybe that’s it: “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” Just another speck of dust clinging to our household surfaces.

If that makes you sad, don’t be. In fact, I’ll tell you a secret, and I’m quoting Vision (from Marvel) here: “A thing isn’t beautiful because it lasts.”

The idea that something has to last to be worthwhile is silly. Even sillier, perhaps, is this idea that we need to have reasons to be happy. Just be happy, man. If you’re not happy, find something that makes you happy. Make someone else happy. But you can’t philosophise your way to happiness. At its best, I think, philosophy can only find you better, more fulfilling ways of living your life. It’s very measured and practical, whereas joy is spontaneous and authentic. You can’t replicate it.

Which brings us back to the fear hole. If death and loss scare you, that’s perfectly normal. We all get that. But if the thought of it scares you, how can you go on living your life? Happiness may be a trap, but so is fear, except fear is all about hype. It’s anticipation, expectation, not reality. Not reality. 

So, get real. That’s not fatalism, absurdism, or nihilism. That’s a well-earned, existential freedom.

Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere. Everybody’s gonna die. Come watch TV.

—Morty